Box-setting machine



(No Model.)

J. B. CHACE.

BOX SETTING MACHINE.

No. 546,841. Patented Sept. 24, 1895.

ZNYINTUH.

WZZ'NESEZEEZ' AN DREW iGRAHANL PHOTOUTHQWASHI NGTON. D

UNITED (S ATE PATENT @rrree,

JOHN BOYDEN CHACE, OF ORANGE, MASSACHUSETTS.

BOX-SETTING MACH N E.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 546,841, datedSeptember 24, 1895.

' Application filed December 21, 1894;. Serial No. 532,525. (No model.)

To atZZ whom it may concern:

Be itknown that 1, JOHN BOYDEN CHAOE, of Orange, in the county ofFranklin and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new. and usefulImprovement in Box-Settin g Machines and I hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, referencebeing had to the" accompanying drawings, forming part of thisspecification.

This invention has reference to improve ments in machines or devicesused to facilitate the setting up and uniting the sides and ends ofboxes.

The invention consists in the peculiar and novel construction of amachine by which the four sidesand the bottom of a box are set up andunited, as will be more fully set forth hereinafter. In the manufactureof boxes the sides and ends are usually secured together at the cornersby means of dovetail or other tenons, and usually the bottom is providedon each of its four sides with a tongue or projection which entersgrooves formed in the sides and ends.

The object of this invention is to so construct a machine that the sidesand ends may be set up 011 the four sides of the bottom and by oneoperation the sides forced inward so that the tongues of the bottom willenter the sides, and then the ends are also pushed inward to unitethe'sides and ends at the four corners by the tenons or dovetails andsecure the bottom; or, when the bottom is to be omitted, to secure theends and sides together at the corners so as to form a true joint, savelabor and time.

Figure 1 is a plan or top view of my im proved box-setting machine. Fig.2 is a side view of the same, partly in section. Fig. 3 is an enlargedtop view of one corner of the machine, showing the parts in theirrelative positions before pressure is applied; and Fig. 4. is anenlarged top View of one corner of the machine, showing the relativepositions of the parts after the pressure has been applied and the boxis completed.

In the drawings, 5 is a bed-plate large enough to support the parts inthe positions required for the largest size of boxes desired to be setup in the machine. The bed-plate 5 is provided with the standards 6, orsup ported in any other usual manner. The two sides 7 of the bedplate 5are preferably beveled inward or provided with ways on which the endblock 8 can be made to slide and the end block 9 canbe. adjusted. Figs.1 and 2 of the drawings show the rela tive adjustments of the parts forthe largest size of boxes for which the machine is adapted. To the endblocks 8 and 9 the slides 10 are secured, preferably by dovetail-ways11, and they are firmly held in the adjusted position by means of thebolts 12. On each one of the slides 10 a bell-crank 13 is'pivotallysupported and provided-with the stop 14., on which the spring 15 bears.I prefer to use two of the bell-cranks 13 on each slide 10, one near theupper and one near the lower part of the slides, and I connect the sameby means of the pressure-bars 16, which are secured to the ends of thetwo bell-cranks either rigidly or by pivoting them so as to formrollers. On one of the arms of each. bell-crank lever 13 thespring-guide 17 is secured, which forms the guides against which thesides a a of the box are placed, and to each of the slides 10 I alsopreferably secure the stop 18, which forms the guides for the end-piecesb b of the box.

The end block 9, which slides on the bedplate 5 in suitable ways isaccurately adjusted by means of the screw 19, which is screw-threaded inthe nut 20 and bears against the end block 9. The nut 20 forms anabutment of the bed-plate 5, the lower part being secured in the hole21. For different sizes of boxes the abutment-nut 20'is secured in theone of the holes 21 best adapted for the size of the boxes to be set inthe machine. By moving the end block 9 toward or from the end block 8and the slides 10 toward or from the ends of the blocks, the machine maybe adjusted to any size of box within its largest capacity. The endblock 8 is alone operated to force the ends and sides of the boxtogether, and is made to reciprocate by means of the cam-lever 22,operated by a foottreadle or other suitable mechanical means. Thecam-lever 22 is pivoted on the pin 23 and is provided with the cam-s1ot24, in which the stud or roller 25 connected with the arm 26 moves, sothat by drawing down the outer free end of the cam-lever 22 a quickmotion is first imparted to the arm 26, which gradually diminishes inspeed and increases in force, ow-

ing to the curvature of the cam-face. The arm 26 is bent around and overthe the bed plate 5 and the end 27 is secured to the sliding end block8, so that the motion imparted by the cam-lever 22 to the stud or roll25 is transmitted to the end block 8.

To enable others skilled in the art to more thoroughly understand anduse my invention, I will now describe its operation more fully.

When boxes of the largest size are being made, the machine is adjustedpractically as shown in the drawings. hen the sides and ends are securedat the corners by means of dovetails, the operation is practically thesame as when they are provided with alternate grooves and tenons, asshown in the drawings. The doweled, dovetailed, or tenoned ends of thesides a a and the end pieces I) b are dipped in or covered with glue. Ifa bottom is inserted the same is placed on the bed-plate 5. The endpieces Z) Z) are placed against the bars or rollers 16 with their endsbetween the ends of the stops 18. The sides are now placed on each sideof the bottom between the two ends and so as to touch the stops 17. Whenthe parts are so placed, the end of the cam-lever 22 is drawn down byfoot-power or other mechanical means. The arm 26,and with it the endblock 8, is drawn toward the opposite end of the machine. The bars orrollers 16 of the bell-crank levers 18, that bear on the end pieces Z)Z), overcome the pressure of the springs 15, which bear on the stops 14and turn the bell-cranks on their pivots. The bars or rollers 16, thatbear against the side pieces a a, move inward and push the side piecesinward, so that the tongues on the sides of the bottom enter the groovesin the side pieces. The bars or rollers 16, that bear on the end piecesI) I), now I'QSL against the slides 10, as is shown in Fig. i, and forcethe end pieces I) b inward until the end of the throw of the cam-lever22 is reached or until the inward movement is resisted by the bottom.

Whether a bottom is used or not, the side pieces are moved inward aswell as the end pieces and, as is clearly shown in Fig. 4, the pressureis exerted on both the side and end pieces near the corner and thus aperfect joint secured. By reversing the motion of the camlever 22 thepressure is released and the machine is opened. The set box may beremoved and the parts of another box placed to repeat the operation. Byconnecting the rod 30, pivotally secured to the cam-lever 22, with anordinary foot-lever acting against a spring the operation of the machinecan be easily and simply performed by the foot of the operative.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent- 1. In a box-setting machine, the combination with thebed-plate, the-fixed end-block, and the reciprocating end-block, of theslides 1010, the bell-crank levers 13 pivotally secured to the slidesand provided with the spring-pressed stop 14, the springs l717 securedto the side arms of the bell-cranks and adapted to bear on the boxsides, and the springs 1818 secured to the slides and adapted to bear onthe vertical edges of the box-ends, as and for the purpose described.

2. The combination in a box-setting machine with the bed-plate 5, theend-block 9, the adj usting-screw 19, the end-block 8, the slides 10provided with the pivoted bell-crank levers 13, and the guides 17 and18, of the mechanism, substantially as described, for reciprocating theend-block 8, substantially as described.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

JOHN BOYDEN CIIACE.

Vitncsses:

W. M. BAKER, O. G. PIOKETT.

